William Blatty Quotes & Sayings

Your mother's in here, Karras. Would you like to leave a message? I'll see that she gets it. — William Peter Blatty

This century hasn't got the lock on insanity. — William Peter Blatty

They Said, "what sign can you give us to see, so that we may believe you?" - John 6: 30 - 31

You do not believe although you have seen... - John 6: 36 - 37 — William Peter Blatty

He could not bear to search for Christ again in stench and hollow eyes; for the Christ of pus and bleeding excrement, the Christ who could not be. In — William Peter Blatty

Would you like to hear a nice definition of jealousy? It's the feeling that you get when someone you absolutely detest is having a wonderful time without you. — William Peter Blatty

I'd sold the book first. Actually to a paperback publisher. I had nothing. I just had the idea. — William Peter Blatty

Oh, I think so. Yeah. Oh, well, sure. A 'type-token' ratio, I suppose, would be as good a way as any to work that out, and with samples of a thousand words or more, you could just check the frequency of occurrence of the various parts of speech." "And would you call that conclusive?" "Pretty much. You see, that sort of test would discount any change in the basic vocabulary. It's not the words but the expression of the words; the style. We call it 'index of diversity.' Very baffling to the layman, which, of course, is what we want." The director smiled wryly. Then he nodded at the tape in Karras's hands. "And so this other person's voice is on that one?" "Not exactly." "Not exactly? — William Peter Blatty

That's right. He was smacking his lips a little, that's all." "He was smacking his lips a little?" "Well, yes." Kinderman — William Peter Blatty

Maybe pick it up by mistake with the cleaning?" "It is there." "With the cleaning?" "In the closet." "No, it isn't. I looked." About to speak, Willie tightened her lips and scowled. Karl had walked in. "Good evening, Madam." He went to the sink for a glass of water. "Did you set those traps?" asked Chris. "No rats." "Did you set them?" "I set them, of course, but the attic is clean." "Tell me, how — William Peter Blatty

But I'll tell you something, Father; you give me Regan's identical twin: same face, same voice, same smell, same everything down to the way she dots her i's, and still I'd know in a second that it wasn't really her! I'd know it! I'd know it in my gut and I'm telling you I know that thing upstairs is not my daughter! I know it! I know! — William Peter Blatty

God never talks. But the devil keeps advertising, Father. The devil does a lot of commercials. — William Peter Blatty

Your thoughts are too dull to entertain. — William Peter Blatty

She watched as a beer truck lumbered by with a clink of quivering warm, wet promises. — William Peter Blatty

And the sad truth is that nobody wants me to write comedy. The Exorcist not only ended that career, it expunged all memory of its existence. — William Peter Blatty

For days or even weeks. It isn't rare to find destructive, even criminal behavior. There's such a big change, in fact, that two or three hundred years ago people with temporal lobe disorders were often considered to be possessed by — William Peter Blatty

rats?" "I just said that." "But the attic is clean." "Well, okay, we've got tidy rats!" "No rats." "Karl, I heard them last night." "Maybe plumbing," Karl probed; "maybe boards." "Maybe rats! Will you buy the damn traps and quit arguing?" Bustling away, Karl, said, "Yes! I go now!" "No not now, Karl! The — William Peter Blatty

I'm not aware that I was consciously influenced by any director, though these things often happen unnoticed, submerged in the unconscious. — William Peter Blatty

Yet I think the demon's target is not the possessed; it is us ... the observers ... every person in this house. And I think
I think the point is to make us despair; to reject our own humanity, Damien: to see ourselves as ultimately bestial; as ultimately vile and putrescent; without dignity; ugly; unworthy. — William Peter Blatty

I have never read horror, nor do I consider The Exorcist to be such, but rather as a suspenseful supernatural detective story, or paranormal police procedural. — William Peter Blatty

But a myth, to speak plainly, to me is like a menu in a fancy French restaurant: glamorous, complicated camouflage for a fact you wouldn't otherwise swallow, like maybe lima beans. — William Peter Blatty

Good writing is rhythm. — William Peter Blatty

But if all of the evil in the world makes you think that there might be a devil, Chris, how do you account for all the good? — William Peter Blatty

All-good, like the vain, capricious, cruel God of Job? With all of eternity at His disposal, what fiendish new tortures might He not devise? A limited — William Peter Blatty

The meantime, I don't know who you are, but you — William Peter Blatty

There it lies, I think, Damien ... possession; not in wars, as some tend to believe; not so much; and very rarely in extraordinary interventions such as here ... this girl ... this poor child. No, I tend to see possession most often in the little things, Damien: in the senseless, petty spites and misunderstandings; the cruel and cutting word that leaps unbidden to the tongue between friends. Between lovers. Between husbands and wives. Enough of these and we have no need of Satan to manage our wars; these we manage for ourselves ... for ourselves. — William Peter Blatty

Chris made a telephone call to her doctor in Los Angeles to ask him for a referral to a local psychiatrist for Regan. — William Peter Blatty

The exorcist should not believe too readily that a person is possessed by an evil spirit; but he aught to ascertain by the signs by which a person possessed can be distinguished from one who is suffering from some illness; especially one of a psychological nature. Signs of possession may be the following: ability to speak with some facility in a strange language or to understand it when spoken by another; the facility of divulging future and hidden events; display of powers which are beyond the subject's age and natural condition; and various other conditions which, when taken together as a whole, build up the evidence. — William Peter Blatty

He thought of death in its infinite groanings, of Aztecs ripping out living hearts and of cancer and three-year-olds buried alive and he wondered whether God was alien and cruel, but then remembered Beethoven and the dappling of things and "Hurrah for Karamazov" and kindness. He — William Peter Blatty

You're a very strange man," said Amfortas. — William Peter Blatty

In forgetting, they were trying to remember — William Peter Blatty

The Kurd stood waiting like an ancient debt. — William Peter Blatty

He drank and behaved outrageously because it was expected of him: he was living up to his legend. — William Peter Blatty

The child was slender as a fleeting hope. — William Peter Blatty

Looked up at the crucifix over the altar, and slowly his expression grew hard and demanding. What's your part in this monkey business? Will you answer? Do you want to call a lawyer? Shall I read you your rights? Take it easy. I'm your friend. I can get you protection. Just answer me a few little questions, all right? — William Peter Blatty

Adieu, sucky speed-reading critics and reviewers!"
Terry Dare, gothic author in Blatty's book "Elsewhere", just before he crosses over. — William Peter Blatty

No, I tend to see possession most often in the little things, Damien: in the senseless, petty spites and misunderstandings; the cruel and cutting word that leaps unbidden to the tongue between friends. Between lovers. Between husbands and wives. Enough of these and we have no need of Satan to manage our wars; these we manage for ourselves. — William Peter Blatty

You don't blame us for being here, do you? After all, we have no place to go. No home ... Incidentally, what an excellent day for an exorcism ... — William Peter Blatty

Henri Bergson thought the principal function of the brain was to filter out most of reality so that we could focus on the tasks of earthly life," he said. "When the filter is weakened by a powerful drug, what we see is not delusion but the truth. — William Peter Blatty

drunk right now, Amfortas suspected, or high on amphetamine, — William Peter Blatty

It's all ka-ka, saying mind is really brain. Sure, my hand is in my pocket. Is my pocket my hand? Every wino on M Street knows a thought is a thought and not some cells or chazerei going on in the brain. They know that jealousy is not some kind of game from Atari. — William Peter Blatty

active catatonics. Among — William Peter Blatty

Regan had the physical syndrome of possession. That much he knew. Of that he had no doubt. For in case after case, irrespective of geography or period of history, the symptoms of possession were substantially constant. Some Regan had not evidenced as yet: stigmata; the desire for repugnant foods; the insensitivity to pain; the frequent loud and irrepressible hiccuping. But the others she had manifest clearly: the involuntary motor excitement; foul breath; furred tongue; the wasting away of the frame; the distended stomach; the irritations of the skin and mucous membrane. And most significantly present were the basic symptoms of the hard core of cases which Oesterreich had characterized as genuine possession: the striking change in the voice and the features, plus the manifestation of a new personality. — William Peter Blatty

Didn't," Chris told him. "She was also sedated when last we spoke?" "Yes, she was." "I thought I saw her at her window that day." "Well, you're mistaken." "It could be. Perhaps so. I'm not sure." "Listen, why are you asking all this?" "Well, a clear — William Peter Blatty

What book had this girl read that had enabled her unconscious mind to simulate — William Peter Blatty

There, you see? I didn't curse. Don't you agree that I handled the situation demurely? — William Peter Blatty

The terror drifted over georgetown like the sun over a blind mans eyes — William Peter Blatty

He started his engine and turned on the windshield wipers in time to see a tall old man stepping out of the cab. He paid the driver, then turned and stood motionless under a misty streetlamp's glow, staring up at a window of the house like a melancholy traveler frozen in time. As — William Peter Blatty

Gliding spiderlike, rapidly, close behind Sharon, her body arched backward in a bow with her head almost touching her feet, was Regan, her tongue flicking quickly in and out of her mouth while she hissed sibilantly like a serpent. Sharon stopped then screamed as she felt Regan's tongue snaking out at her ankle. That day, everywhere Sharon went, Regan followed. — William Peter Blatty

We have every indication that he died of fright. — William Peter Blatty

WHAT WE GIVE TO THE POOR IS WHAT WE TAKE WITH US WHEN WE DIE. — William Peter Blatty

I've been campaigning like anything for restoring these changes. For 27 years. I wrote a book about it, well, a portion of the book was devoted to these scenes and why they should have been in the movie. — William Peter Blatty

Stepping lithe and incredulous from the study; of Karras, emerging bewildered from the kitchen while the nightmarish poundings and croakings continued. Merrin went calmly up the staircase, a slender hand like alabaster sliding upward on the banister. Karras came up beside Chris, and together they watched from below as Merrin entered Regan's bedroom and closed the door behind him. For a time there was silence. Then abruptly the demon laughed hideously and Merrin swiftly exited the room, closed the door, then moved quickly down the hall while behind him the bedroom door opened again and Sharon poked her head out, staring after him with an odd expression on her face. Merrin descended the staircase rapidly and put out his hand to the waiting Karras. — William Peter Blatty

Do you know what she did? Your cunting daughter? — William Peter Blatty

it made me wonder whether the brothers karamazov would have ever come down to us as a classic if its title had been the karamzov brothers. — William Peter Blatty

Like the brief doomed flare of exploding suns that registers dimly on blind men's eyes, the beginning of the horror passed almost unnoticed; in the shriek of what followed, in fact, was forgotten and perhaps not connected to the horror at all. — William Peter Blatty

I think the demon's target is not the possessed; it is us ... the observers ... every person in this house. And I think - I think the point is to make us despair; to reject our own humanity, Damien: to see ourselves as ultimately bestial, vile and putrescent; without dignity; ugly; unworthy. And there lies the heart of it, perhaps: in unworthiness. For I think belief in God is not a matter of reason at all; I think it finally is a matter of love: of accepting the possibility that God could ever love us. — William Peter Blatty

Karras showered and then dressed in a T-shirt and trousers. Sitting down to his desk, he discovered a carton of Camel non-filters, and beside it a key that was labeled LANGUAGE LAB and another — William Peter Blatty

Merrin began buttoning up the cassock. "Especially important is the warning to avoid conversations with the demon." The demon! — William Peter Blatty

Carrot-and-stick reinforcement' the behaviorists are telling us is needed for this bird to carry out these operations, thirteen different types of construction jobs? B. F. Skinner did a very good thing: in World War — William Peter Blatty

She advised me to keep my fingers away from her goddamned cunt. — William Peter Blatty

Yes, of course," said Kinderman. "It's very strange. But then it leaves us — William Peter Blatty

Every man that ever lived craved perfect happiness, the detective poignantly reflected. But how can we have it when we know we're going to die? Each joy was clouded by the knowledge it would end. And so nature had implanted in us a desire for something unattainable? No. It couldn't be. It makes no sense. Every other striving implanted by nature had a corresponding object that wasn't a phantom. Why this exception? the detective reasoned. It was nature making hunger when there wasn't any food. We continue. We go on. Thus death proved life. — William Peter Blatty

One more thing about evolution. They keep saying that it's chance, all chance, and that it's simple. Billions of fish kept — William Peter Blatty

One death is the parent of a thousand lives — William Peter Blatty

In order for life to have appeared spontaneously on Earth, there first had to be hundreds of millions of protein molecules of the Ninth Configuration. But, given the size of the planet Earth, do you know how long it would take for just one of these protein molecules to appear by chance? Roughly 10 to the 243rd power, billions of years; and I find that far, far more fantastic than simply believing in a god. — William Peter Blatty

The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us; but he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. His attack is psychological, Damien. And powerful. — William Peter Blatty

As far as God goes, I am a nonbeliever. Still am. But when it comes to a devil
well, that's something else. — William Peter Blatty

What looked like morning was the beginning of endless night — William Peter Blatty

Bantam Press. And they commissioned me to write it. And when that was completed, they sold it to Harper and Row. And then I put it out to every movie studio in town. And they all turned it down. — William Peter Blatty

I'm not saying I'm against evolution. It's okay. Here's the story on reptiles, however. Think this over. They come up on — William Peter Blatty

Never was he conscious that his thoughts were prayers; only that the prayers were never answered. — William Peter Blatty

I didn't read The Haunting of Hill House until sometime early in the 1990's. — William Peter Blatty

This making you nauseous a little? — William Peter Blatty

More rooted in logic was the silence of God. In the world there was evil and much of it resulted from doubt, from an honest confusion among men of good will. Would a reasonable God refuse to end it? Not finally reveal Himself? Not speak? "Lord, give us a sign ... " The raising of Lazarus was dim in the distant past. No one now living had heard his laughter. And so why not a sign? — William Peter Blatty

I think the dead should shut up unless there's something to say — William Peter Blatty

We use concepts like "consciousness"
"mind"
"personality," but we don't really know yet what these things are.' He was shaking his head. 'Not really. Not at all. — William Peter Blatty

Mom, my bed was shaking. — William Peter Blatty

Her shoes were comfortable. They reflected her hope for the evening. — William Peter Blatty

At the edge of his dreams, there was often a sound like the faint, distant cry of someone in distress, and for minutes after waking, he would feel the anxiety of some duty unfulfilled. — William Peter Blatty

Regan killing Dennings? What madness! He envisioned her shoving — William Peter Blatty

He dared not love again and lose. That loss was too great, that pain too keen. — William Peter Blatty

The sun sinks to rise again; the day is swallowed up in the gloom of night, to be born out of it, as fresh as if it had never been quenched. — William Peter Blatty

The child was slender as fleeting hope. — William Peter Blatty

Okay, the question is, 'What enormously popular novel by William Peter Blatty, set in the posh Washington D.C. suburb of Georgetown, concerned the demonic possesion of a young girl?' '
'Johnny Cash', Henry replied.
'Jesus Christ!' Tricks Postino yelled. 'That's what you say to everythin! Johnny Cash, that's what you say to fuckin everythin!'
'Johnny Cash is everything,' Heny replied gravely... — Stephen King

Well, the research into it affected me. And the novel, it very much strengthened my faith. — William Peter Blatty

Earth is a homicide victim. We lose our children. There are wars. Disease. And God comes strolling by like a cosmic Billie Burke. — William Peter Blatty

Booming and yet muffled, croaking, like an amplified premature burial, it called out "Merriiiiinnnnnn!" And then the massive and shiveringly hollow jolt of a single sledgehammer blow against the bedroom wall. "God — William Peter Blatty

How many husbands and wives must believe they have fallen out of love because their hearts no longer race at the sight of their beloveds! — William Peter Blatty

Procrastination is what we often call 'resistance. — William Peter Blatty

Keep away. The sow is mine. — William Peter Blatty

I lived in Georgetown in the late '70s about four houses down from the steps. — William Peter Blatty

Regan's pulse was astonishing. It hammered at a speed too rapid to gauge. Across the bed, Merrin reached out calmly and with the end of his thumb traced the sign of the cross on Regan's vomit-covered chest. The words of his prayer were swallowed up in the poundings. — William Peter Blatty

The shaven head and the man in white pants and the black woolen — William Peter Blatty

For I think belief in God is not a matter of reason at all; I think it finally is a matter of love. — William Peter Blatty

It was a green stone head of the demon Pazuzu, personification of the southwest wind. — William Peter Blatty

Something unspeakable left the room. — William Peter Blatty

I get cassettes near Academy Award time of every movie that's made that thinks it has some kind of chance for a nomination - that's when I watch my movies. — William Peter Blatty

Why would an eye want to form? — William Peter Blatty

The burnished rays of the setting sun flamed glory on the clouds of the western sky before shattering in gold and vermilion dapples on the darkening waters of the river. Once Karras met God in this sight. Long ago. Like a lover forsaken, he still kept the rendezvous. — William Peter Blatty

From the cab stepped a tall old man. Black raincoat and hat and a battered valise. He paid the driver, then turned and stood motionless, staring at the house. The cab pulled away and rounded the corner of Thirty-sixty Street. Kinderman quickly pulled out to follow. As he turned the corner, he noticed that the tall old man hadn't moved but was standing under the streetlight glow, in mist, like a melancholy traveler frozen in time. — William Peter Blatty